1. Technical Field
This application relates to a cover and cover deployment device for the tool member or tool assembly of a surgical instrument, and more particularly, to a cover and cover deployment device for the tool member of a laparoscopic or endoscopic surgical instrument for manipulating, treating or excising tissue, especially diseased or cancerous tissue, from a body cavity.
2. Background of Related Art
A variety of different types of surgical instruments have been developed for manipulating, identifying, treating, repairing and/or excising tissue including organs or portions thereof located within body cavities such instruments sometimes being hereafter referred to as surgical instruments for treatment of body tissues. These instruments include graspers, fasteners, e.g., staplers, dissectors, biopsy devices, coagulators, etc. Typically, these instruments are dimensioned to be used in both open and laparoscopic or endoscopic procedures.
In endoscopic surgical procedures for treatment of body tissue, a surgical instrument is inserted through an incision or cannula to a position adjacent the tissue to be treated. The distal tool member of the instrument is then manipulated to treat, i.e., biopsy, excise, dissect, coagulate, reposition, etc., the tissue. Thereafter, the instrument with or without excised tissue is withdrawn from the surgical site through the incision to remove the instrument from the body cavity.
One problem associated with current surgical devices is that during removal of the tool member from the surgical site, the tool member or tool assembly (hereafter, for simplicity “tool member”) of the surgical instrument for treating, for example, diseased, tissue comes into contact with the healthy tissue defining the incision and/or within the body cavity in which the surgical site is located. This may also be a problem in open surgical procedures. Where the tissue being treated is diseased tissue, e.g., cancerous, this problem becomes critical since contact between the cancerous tissue and the healthy tissue may result in seeding of cancerous cells resulting in metastases.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for improved instrumentation for shielding healthy tissue from diseased tissue during removal of a surgical instrument from a surgical site.